Police in hot pursuit of Mafraq bank robbery suspect

AMMAN — Police on Thursday said they are searching for a suspect who reportedly robbed a bank in Mafraq Governorate at gunpoint.

“We received a report about an armed man who entered the bank and robbed it at gunpoint,” Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said.

The police official told The Jordan Times that the suspect entered the bank “wearing sunglasses and a cap and managed to escape with around JD4,800”.

“No one was injured in the incident and we are searching for the suspect,” the police official added.

Thursday’s incident is the fifth since the beginning of the year to target local banks in the Kingdom.  Police managed to arrest all the suspects involved in the bank robberies this year and retrieved the majority of the stolen cash.

In 2018, a money exchange shop and eight banks were targeted in Jordan, with some cases involving armed robbers, while others using fake weapons.

Seven of the nine suspected robbers have been arrested so far, while two suspects, who escaped with over JD105,000 in cash from two banks in the Wihdat neighbourhood and in Irbid, remain at large.

The State Security Court (SSC) has been passing harsh sentences of up to 15 years in prison against bank robbers.

The SSC considered the actions of bank robbers as acts that would endanger the safety of society, disturb public order, spread fear among citizens, endanger the lives of the bank employees and jeopardise economic resources.